7 Reasons to Outsource Your IT

For years, experts have been going back and forth debating the merits of outsourced IT. Some say the cost benefit is enough reason to outsource, while others say that the potential security risk in giving control to third-party vendors is enough reason to not outsource. Both of these arguments might be true. The difference lies in the type of business looking to outsource, the size of the business looking to outsource and the companies who provide outsourced IT.

Typically, small and mid-size businesses benefit most from outsourced IT, simply because it alleviates some of the high technology costs and lets their employees focus on the tasks they were hired to complete as opposed to worrying about IT issues. Aside from this, however, outsourced IT can provide a number of benefits.

Proactive maintenance

Outsourced IT companies spend their entire day working on IT issues: upgrading software, fixing small or large hardware issues, keeping tabs on the latest technology trends, running backups, etc. IT is all they do. They monitor their client systems to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Instead of reactive maintenance, where maintenance is required only after something goes wrong, outsourced IT companies spend their entire day attempting to make sure problems don’t arise to begin with.

Increased business focus

Most small and mid-size businesses outsource their IT because they don’t have the capital or expertise to maintain and manage an internal IT department. By outsourcing their IT needs, small and mid-size business can keep their focus on their business needs and goals instead of focusing on the hardware that makes it run.

Improved system reliability & performance

Technical hardware is expensive. It’s an unfortunate, but very true fact. Businesses can attempt to cut costs by using old hardware, but then they run the risk of having to constantly maintain and update that hardware. With outsourced IT, businesses have access to quality hardware and a service that knows how to keep it in peak shape.

Expertise

For businesses that do have internal IT departments, they are relying on a few employees to be able to fix any technological problem that can arise in any given day. However, when businesses outsource their IT departments, they now have access to a significant number of employees with different past experiences, specializations and qualifications. This means that businesses with outsourced IT have their issues identified and resolved more quickly than businesses that have a small internal IT department.

Business continuity

Outsourced IT companies will monitor client systems 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in case of emergencies. Internal IT departments aren’t always providing this kind of availability. Additionally, internal employees may quit unexpectedly, take vacations or generally be unreachable during emergencies. Without an emergency plan in place, businesses without outsourced IT can be left playing catch up until they can find and train a replacement. Outsourced IT gives businesses a peace of mind that they will have access to all of their necessary information every morning.

Predictable management costs

When businesses have internal IT departments, they are not always prepared for unexpected payments in desperate situations (e.g. a server crashed). The relatively minor monthly payments when outsourcing IT, however, are used in desperate situations so that businesses don’t have to hand over large sums of cash without much notice.

Agility

As businesses innovate and grow, IT companies can face an influx of customer calls due to successful campaigns or product launches. Outsourced IT departments are able to react to a sudden increase in demand more efficiently than an internal department by having resources available to more quickly adapt to changing client needs.

While outsourced IT undoubtedly cuts business costs – a fact that experts always seem to agree on – it can also provide a set of invaluable resources for businesses that aren’t as tangible, but just as necessary. Outsourced IT provides emergency planning and system updating processes to ensure that their clients have minimal IT problems so that they can focus on their other business needs. If you have any questions or would like to learn how Outsourcing your IT can help your business, contact us today!